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December 6, 2023It sounds like the crowd that Jesus was preaching to in our Gospel today was a little rough, and at the end of a long year, I can identify with them. The Gospel says a great crowd followed after Jesus, and they brought to him all those who were in need of healing, in need of mercy: those who were lame or deformed or blind or mute or deaf. And Jesus, in the sight of all the people, made them whole again. Restored. Of course, these are the sorts of miracles we’re used to hearing about in the Gospel.
But I’m struck by the second part of the story today – the feeding of this great crowd, the feeding of the multitude. After doing these incredible feats – Jesus asks his disciples to feed them. The Apostles were likely exhausted too – helping the Lord with his ministry and managing what must have been a chaotic day. They come to him and tell Jesus that they simply have no more to give, nothing really left – just seven loaves of bread and a few fish.
We probably can identify with that feeling too – with nothing more to give. Well, that’s the beauty of the Gospel we have today. Jesus asks us to bring the little that we have left and give it to him. And Jesus changes the little into abundance. The Apostles brought Jesus what little they had – bread and fish – and he made it sufficient. We can bring Jesus the little we have and entrust it to him.
We often feel like we have to do it all. That we have to be enough. The truth is that we won’t be. We won’t be on our own, anyway. We must take whatever we have and bring it to the Lord. Give it to him and let him continue to amaze us. As we’re told in the Gospel today, the crowds were satisfied – we can allow Jesus to satisfy our hunger and our needs. For us, Jesus is enough.
[click here for the readings of the day]
